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Theater Review: WINDFALL (Steppenwolf Theatre Company / World Premiere / Chicago)
CASH, GRIEF, AND THE COST OF RESISTANCE A gripping, immersive premiere dissolves the line between audience and action Steppenwolf’s excellent 50th season continues with Windfall, the new play by Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight). Performed in the Ensemble Theatre, Andrew Boyce’s scenic design eschews a traditional set almost entirely. The performance space is a…
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Theater Review: BETTER LATE (rePLAY Series at Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs)
WHEN LEGENDS READ, YOU LISTEN A star-studded staged reading proves craft, not spectacle, is the real event Some nights in the theater feel important before they even begin. rePLAY’s closing-night presentation of Better Late at the Plaza Theatre this past Saturday was one of them—not just because of Larry Gelbart’s sharply observed script, but because…
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Theater Review: HAMLET (National Theatre Company at BAM in Brooklyn)
THE DANISH PRINCE, DECODED Focused staging and strong performances bring Hamlet’s inner life into view at BAM. The National Theater’s Hamlet at BAM follows in the tradition of other fine productions of the play at the esteemed Brooklyn institution going back as far as 1961, returning to the Harvey stage over a dozen times. With…
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Theater Review: MORRIS MICKLEWHITE AND THE TANGERINE DRESS (Mosaic Theatricals at Patio Playhouse in Escondido)
A DRESS FOR SUCCESS A polished TYA production that treats identity and imagination with care. Mosaic Theatricals’ production of Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress at Patio Playhouse does not just aim to charm young audiences—it makes its point clearly. This is a heartfelt lesson for children of all ages about belonging, delivered with a…
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Theater Preview: MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT (Vineyard Theatre, NYC)
POLITICS, IN FULL DRAG: A CAMPAIGN LIKE NO OTHER Wayne Brady leads a wild, urgent, and unexpectedly timely ride through queer history and unfinished business. There have been outsider candidates before, but none quite like Joan Jett Blakk—the self-declared Black drag queen who ran for President of the United States in the early 1990s, armed…
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Theater Review: MILLENNIALS ARE KILLING MUSICALS (World Premiere at The Colony Theatre)
DON’T BLAME MILLENNIALS: MILLENNIALS ARE KILLING MUSICALS IS KILLING MUSICALS (OR, WHEN SATIRE EATS ITSELF) An exhausting, vulgar, and unfocused musical that mistakes noise for insight and collapses into the very thing it claims to critique. There is a song in Millennials Are Killing Musicals, the new tuner currently suffocating at the Colony Theatre in…
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Theatre Review: HYMN (Odyssey Theatre Ensemble)
A HYMN WITHOUT THE HALLELUJAH A polished, well-acted drama that never quite ignites Hymn by playwright Lolita Chakrabarti is a well-crafted piece, with detailed characters and dialogue that is enunciated with sincerity. Drina Durazo of Lower Depth Theatre, in collaboration with The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s Sally Essex-Lopresti, has mounted a slick two-man drama, which director…
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Theater Review: OUT HERE (Court Theatre)
OUT OF THE CLOSET, INTO THE FIRE A messy, ambitious new musical about divorce lands more as play than score— but still entertains Court Theatre closes out its 2025/2026 season with Out Here, a new musical with a book by Leslie Buxbaum, music by Erin McKeown, lyrics by Buxbaum and McKeown, and it’s all based…
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Theater Review: SHADES AND SHADOWS (Back with Two Beasts / Magic Theatre / San Francisco)
LOOKING BACK AT A LOOK-BACK A fresh perspective on one of mythology’s most famous mistakes Last night, The Back with Two Beasts company premiered a new show at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre: Shades and Shadows by Bay Area playwright William Brasse. Combining spoken drama, music, and interpretive movement, the production explores the Greek myth of Orpheus…
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Theater Review: FOR WANT OF A HORSE (Echo Theater Company, Atwater Village Theatre)
HOLD YOUR HORSES A provocative subject that proves hard to recommend—and harder to ignore Olivia Dufault’s For Want of a Horse tackles a subject most plays wouldn’t dare touch—and to its credit, it does so without melodrama. But what might have been a deeply human exploration of how such a taboo shapes lives instead plays…
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Theater Review: EELPOUT! (Shattered Globe at Theater Wit)
ICE FISHING, MALE BONDING, AND ONE VERY TALKATIVE FISH An uproarious and unexpectedly poignant Midwest comedy that finds connection in the unlikeliest of places. “There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before”. That line from O Pioneers! by the great…
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Off-Broadway Review: KENREX (Lucille Lortel)
A COMMUNITY PUSHED PAST THE LAW An electrifying solo tour de force that turns a town’s nightmare into gripping theater. The largest Off-Broadway cast this season—over a dozen roles—may well be at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Remarkably, they’re played by one actor. That’s only one reason you should see the amazing Jack Holden in KENREX, the…
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Theater Review: BLUE KISS (Ruskin Group Theatre)
THE KISS OF DEATH A drama overloaded with “dots” that just don’t connect The Ruskin Group Theatre’s production of Stephen Fife’s Blue Kiss starts off with promise. Todd (Casey Morris), a somewhat stuffy, failed poet and depressed academic, has reluctantly agreed to tutor Susan (Carolina Rodriguez), a somewhat manic, wanna-be poet student. We’ve been here…
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Theater Review: HAMNET (Royal Shakespeare Company at American Conservatory Theater)
TO GRIEVE OR NOT TO GRIEVE American Conservatory Theater presents Hamnet, the stage adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s historical novel, adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi) and directed by Erica Whyman. Hamnet, the historical novel by Maggie O’Farrell, reimagines the family life of William Shakespeare in the 16th century. It’s an intimate portrait of his…
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Off-Broadway Review: BROKEN SNOW (Theatre 71)
A PUZZLE WORTH SOLVING A slow-burn puzzle that rewards patience with emotional clarity In the middle of nowhere, in an abandoned house, Broken Snow begins with a promise. Kris (Tony Danza) steps forward and tells us he has a story—“one of utmost significance,” he insists, “a moment where everything changes.” It’s a bold promise, not…
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Theater Review: BEAU JEST (North Coast Rep)
A NICE JEWISH BOY— OR IS HE? Plenty of laughs and genuine feeling power this crowd-pleasing production Sarah Goldman is a young Jewish Chicago teacher in the late 1900s. Her boyfriend is a lawyer named Chris Cringle and they are thinking about getting married. But there is a problem. Chris is not Jewish and Sarah’s…
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Theater Review: FLOWER DRUM SONG (East West Players & JACCC at the Aratani Theatre)
A NEW BEAT ON AN OLD DRUM A vibrant revival powered by talent, spectacle, and cultural pride Crazy Talented Asian Americans! “To create something new, we must first love what is old.”– Mei-Ling from Flower Drum Song I fell in love with East West Players and JACCC’s co-production revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Flower Drum…
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Theater Review: THE SECRET SHARER (DNAWorks at Emerson Paramount Center)
TOO MANY HANDS ON DECK An inventive but overstuffed adaptation floods the narrative The world premiere of DNAWorks‘ adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s “The Secret Sharer,” directed by Daniel Banks at Emerson Paramount Center offers a lot of intriguing approaches to this classic tale of two men who strongly resemble one another. Regarded as a novella…
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Broadway Review: THE BALUSTERS (Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre)
STOP SIGNS AND SOCIAL SIGNALS Sharp, humane, and richly acted, this new comedy lands with both wit and weight In The Balusters, playwright David Lindsay-Abaire once again proves himself a master of tonal tightrope walking—balancing biting social critique with deep wells of empathy, all wrapped in the polished veneer of a parlor room comedy. Set…
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Theater Review: COCKROACHES (World Premiere at Revolution Stage Company, Palm Springs)
THIS SHOW BUGS ME A Southern Gothic that hints at something deeper but never quite gets there For all its promise, Cockroaches, the 2024 Del Shores Foundation Best Play winner by Emma Schillage, leaves you grasping for clarity—and, at times, patience. Set in a decaying Southern home, the play centers on three sisters—Charlie (Leilani Baldwin),…
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